MAD RESPECT FOR THE OILKINGS

Holy cow. Was that an Edmonton Ice Hockey squadron raising a championship trophy on Rexall Place Ice in a year that begins with 2?

A few years back it seemed as though Daryl Katz had purchased Last Place Hockey Teams in bulk and that anything remotely connected to Rexall Sports was destined to sit on the bottom of it’s league for all eternity.

FAST FORWARD

Now in 2012 we are staring down the barrel of a return to respectability on two of the three fronts. The WHL Champion Oil Kings are officially a juggernaut. The Oil Barons are in the Conference Finals against the Jerk Marlies. And the big club? Well they are drafting first for the 11th year in a row and that’s something right?

As a perennial Moose Jaw fan we watched the Oil Kings smack aside what was one of the better Warriors teams in a long while as though it ain’t no thang. There was a big gap between "good" and "great" and the Oil Kings are definitely a part of the latter group.

Their win against Portland last night proved this beyond the shadow of a doubt.

"The Oil Kings are headed back to the Memorial Cup tournament to compete for a national junior championship for the first time in 40 years.

“You know what, it’s a little surreal right now,” said Rachinski, a fifth-year player who has lived the growing pains of this fledgling franchise. “If you would have told me the last couple of years that we’d be winning a championship, I wouldn’t have believed you."

BELIEVE THAT

It’s time to start believing in the Oil Kings it would seem. Good luck in the Memorial Cup fellas. You are doing the City proud.

I well remember Darcy Rota. 73 goals in a season. That still must be the kings record. A great jr player.

Best wishes to the oilkings, do us all proud. Ditto Rush. Interesting read about the importance of team chemistry. I truly hope Yak can co-exist with the young guns already here or better still DRAFT MURRAY.

@Freeze Hmmmmmm it took the Oil Kings 5 years to build a winner in a league with no salary cap and no salaries.

Now saying that do not degrade what they accomplished with your idiotic comments towards the big team. You do realise by the Manegement team by extension includes Tambellinni and Lowe because the Oil Kings are owned by the Oilers.

Congrates Oil Kings now Hope you finish the job in Quebec at the Memorial Cup.

A little defensive there, do you work for the team?
Lowe and Tambo didn’t build that team, Bob Green did and he deserves the credit. It has been 5 years and the team is ahead of schedule. How long have the Oilers been skidding now?

@Freeze Maybe I do work for the team and maybe I am a real fan and not a wannabe G.M.
The Oilers stopped chaseing dreams like Heatly and Hossa and Jagr in 2009 when they finnished last for the first time in Oiler History. That was when they turned over the roster by 20% and made a commitment to build it thru the draft.
Think what you will I will go with the facts.

You did say one thing true here Bob Green built a great team and they deserve the time here and not some idiot makeing small of the feat by cheap shotting their owners.

As I have argued before, Katz has been nothing but a blessing to the Oilers and has spent a lot of time and money rebuilding this organization from the ground up.

Hey freeze, before Katz we didn’t even have a development system for our players. We used to have to piggyback on other franchises teams. It was pathetic. Now we’re enjoying growing success at every level and that will translate into stability and long term success for the Oilers.

I don’t work for the Oilers, but I wish that I did. I understand that they keep making that list of top companies to work for in Canada. Curse you Katz!